The first period of play on Saturday night saw only four whistles, a pair of which were matching, two-minute minors against the Crimson’s Steve Mandes and Maine’s Jon Jankus for roughing after the whistle. So in the first 20 minutes of play, just two power plays were awarded, neither of which led to a goal.
The next two periods were something of a circus, though, as 20 calls, 13 power plays and 56 minutes of penalty time were dished out.
In the last 40 minutes, there was never a stretch of five without a whistle.
Eleven different minor infractions were called—hitting from behind, hooking, interference, obstruction-hooking, obstruction-holding, roughing after the whistle, roughing, holding, slashing, tripping and holding the stick—as was a 10-minute misconduct on the Black Bears’ Derek Damon.
And while both teams amassed 12 penalties each, there was one glaring difference when the finals seconds ticked off the clock: Harvard had struck for three power-play goals in seven opportunities, while Maine had gone just 1-for-8.
“Three [goals] to one on power plays—that was the difference,” Whitehead said.
JUST SHOOT ME
During its current, five-game win streak, the Crimson has only once held an advantage in shots on goal: this past Tuesday, when Harvard outshot Vermont 30-23.
In the other four games—against Clarkson, Union, RPI and Maine—the Crimson has been outdone by an average margin of almost 12. Since Harvard last lost, it has managed 47 first-period shots on goal and has jumped out to an early, first-frame lead four of the five times.
The shots have fallen off slightly in the second and third frames—39 and 36, respectively—as the Crimson’s opponents have made late-game pushes and, at times, caught Harvard on its heels.
Still, Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 is more than willing to take the bad side of the shot differential if it will still translate into five straight victories.
He indicated as much after last weekend’s RPI matchup, in which the Engineers outshot Harvard 26-15 and limited the Crimson to just three in the final frame. Harvard won, 2-1.
SLAPSHOTS
Pelle led his team Saturday night with seven shots—three more than his closest teammate, senior Andrew Lederman—six of which came in the first period...Sophomore blueliner Dylan Reese earned two assists against the Black Bears, bringing his season points total to nine. He now sits in a fourth-place tie with forward Brendan Bernakevitch on the team points list, topped only by Lederman, Pelle and assistant captain Tom Cavanagh—all three of whom skate on Harvard’s top power play unit...The Crimson continued its stifling defensive efforts against Maine with 22 blocked shots, many of which came on the 7-for-8 penalty kill...Though he still leads his team with 16 penalties—his nearest teammates have been whistled six times—captain Noah Welch has amassed only four penalties during Harvard’s five-game winning-streak. On Saturday night, he was even seen breaking up a mid-ice fight.
—Staff writer Rebecca A. Seesel can be reached at seesel@fas.harvard.edu.